Printing method and apparatus



May 3, 1938. A. WAGNER PRINTING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Feb. 16, 19254A 2 Sheets-Sheet l HNVENTOR /Mz-Rr Mlm/p? y INHNIIIIIUNIN AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA US wml Patented May 3, 1938 PATENT orifice PRINTING MTiTHoo AND APPARATUS Albert Wagner, Trenton, N. J., assignor to Sloane- Blabon Corporation, Trenton, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application FebruaryA 16, 1934, Seria-l No. 711,494

Claims.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for printing. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for multicolor printing, in which the borders or outlines f5 between the various colors, applied in any suitable manner, are softened, and the colors applied to adjacent areas are `intermingled along their borders. i

My invention is designed particularly for application in the printing of floor coverings, e. g., in the printing of linoleum or felt base goods with oil paints, and willtherefore be described in connection therewith although it is to be under stood that the invention is not limited to any such specific application.

In the printing of floor covering materials such as linoleurn and felt base goods, the various colors fareapplied to the adjacent pattern areas at successive positions, and by separate printing blocks which, after Abeing supplied with paint, e. g., from a roller fountain or paint carriage, are moved toward the goods until the paint is transferred from the s-urface of the block to the surface of the goods. In order to assure even distribution of the paint and avoid excessive suction and irregularity or smearing of the paint due to such suction, the blocks are ordinarily made with projections, e. g., by making parallel saw cuts in one direction or at righ't angles, `so as to form on the surface of the block parallel lines or rows of `pins separated by kerfs. 'I'he formation of the designs is limited to a substantial extent by the arrangement of these lines or pins, and in the formation of patterns which depend upon irregular lines; and particularly patterns such as imitation marble, etc., narrow lines of color are apt to follow too regularly the rectilinear arrangement of the lines or pins on the block. i

vide for irregularly drawing out colors, either at a border or narrow lines of color, where the pattern :makes it desirable that the color should not follow any regular rectilinear arrangement. Another object of the invention is to produce irregular and limited blending of colors applied to thesurface of the goods.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in first applying the various colors to the goods in any suitable manner, e. g., as has beencommonly practiced in the prior art, and thereafter moving a surface or surfaces into contactwith the wet colors upon the goods, and while said surfaces are in adheringcontact with the colors, moving them laterally so as to' pro- It is an object of the present invention to produce the desired drawing out or blending of the Fig. 1l is `a fragmentary side elevation of a standard printing machine modiied to embody the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section of the printing machine illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3a to 3f show in plan view a set of blocks suitable for use in carrying out my invention.

As already pointed out above, my invention contemplates the bringing of a suitable blending surface into Contact with a wet color upon the printed goods, and while thus in contact shifting the vblending surface laterally. In the case of floor covering materials printed upon an ordinary block printing machine, this is most easily accomplished by means of a mash block attached to one of the printing heads of the standard machine, provided that suitable provision is made for lateral motion of the printing block when it has been moved into contact vwith the wet color. rIhis may `be accomplished in numerous ways. One mechanism suitable for this purpose is shown, for example, in the Waldron Patent No. 811,342. In Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown the mechanism which I prefer to use for this purpose.

In these figures, the printing head I0, the

frame ii, i2, the head operating mechanism I3, 3

lli, and the other parts of the machine not specifically referred to below may be substantially identical with those in common use. In the present case, the `hole 2t through which the bolt 2i passes to support the printing head if! on the operating bar ill is slotted, as shown in Fig. 2, to allow a lateral shifting of the head relative to the operating bar I4. A shifting mechanism is provided to effect the lateral shifting of the head at the proper time with reference to the operation of the machine, In the present case, this is elected by means of a cam 22 secured to the cam ii'hfor its shaft, and having a high point 23 substantially `at `the middle of the low part of the cam I3. The cam follower 24 rides upon the cam ,22, and is held aligned therewith by the guides 2.5, and 2E. The roller 2l on the follower 2'4 contacts with a lever `28 pivotally secured to the frame of the machine kby a bracket 29. The

upper portion of this lever 28 vbears against the printing head lll, as shown at 30.

The shifting mechanism just described may be repeated at the opposite side of the head, with the high point 23 of the cams at the two sides staggered so that the head is shifted rst to one direction, and then back; or the head may be resiliently held in one direction so that when the high point 23 of the cam 22 moves out from under the follower 24, the printing head will return of its own accord.

In Figs. 3a to 3f, I have shown by way of illustration a set of blocks which may be used, for example, in printing marble tile patterns. 'Ihe block 3| prints the veining in one color, the block 32 prints veining of another color, the block 33 prints veining of still another color, block 34 prints on alternate squares of a tile pattern a base color, and the block 35 prints a different base color upon the intervening squares of the pattern. When these five blocks have printed on the goods, the alternate squares of the tile pattern will each have a pattern in which the veining applied by the blocks 3|, 32 and 33 has run through the paint applied by the blocks 34 and 35 to the surface. Since the paint applied by the blocks 34 and 35, however, will have been applied in ridges or in dots because of the lines or pins of the blocks, the veining will tend to come through in lines parallel to the lines or rows of pins.

In order to destroy this rectilinear character of the veining, the block 36 is moved into contact with the wet paint and then shifted laterally, e. g., ,Jg or 1A; of an inch. This lateral shifting of the head according to my invention is intended only to blend and soften the fine outline of without destroying the pattern or rendering it unrecognizable as such. The amplitude may be substantially varied, but ordinarily should not be more than about three times the width of the projection of the block by which the color is applied.

As shown in Fig. 3f, the block 36 is cut away along narrow strips 31 and 36, so that it will not contact with the paint along the borders between the squares of -the tile pattern. Thus, the pattern within each square will be softened and blended and drawn out from the rectilinear arrangement, while the borders between the tile patterns may remain clear and sharp.

Ordinarily it would be more convenient to construct the machine so that the block is moved laterally and back again before it is withdrawn from the color, but it is to be understood that the lateral movement may be in one direction only, and if desired, the cam which effects the lateral movement may operate at half the speed of the machine cam I3 and be shaped so that the block moves in one direction when in contact with one section of the goods, and in the opposite direction when in contact with the next section. In this way, an appreciable variation in the repeats may be obtained.

In Figs. 3a to 3f, I have shown an arrangement of blocks, and have described above an operation in which the veining is applied before the ground color, as described and claimed in Patent No. 1,924,501, of Bernard J. Kelly. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is applicable to other types of patterns, Whether made by overlay printing or by cut-out in which only one block applies a color to each of adjacent areas and the blending is entirely across the border, instead of being partly a horizontal and partly a vertical blending, as in the case of overlay or underlay printing.

I'he blending surfaces of the block 36 may be the ordinary pin or line blocks, or may be brush blocks, as described and claimed in the co-pending application of Bernard J. Kelly and James W. Kemmler, Serial No. 626,593, filed July 30, 1932 which has matured as Patent Number 2,052,350, or may be screen blocks, as described and claimed in the co-pending application of Rollin C. Gere, Serial No. 677,816, filed June 27, 1933 which has matured as Patent Number 1,996,916. If suitable provision is made for separation, e. g., by forming with a convex surface, the areas between the channels 3l and 38 may even be solid.

I have found that most pleasing results are obtained when the movement of the blocks is approximately E to 1/8 of an inch. The invention, however, is not limited to any particular amplitude, and with other types of designs, a much greater lateral shifting of the block may produce more desirable results. It is contemplated by the present invention that the lateral shifting shall draw out one color from the border to which it was initially applied, and depending upon the pattern which is desired, the drawing out, and consequently the lateral shifting, may be greater or less. It is not intended, however, that the shifting be carried to such an extent that the pattern is completely destroyed, but rather that the pattern should be developed or softened without being rendered entirely unrecognizable.

While I have described above and shown in the drawings certain specific embodiments of my invention and certain manners of procedure, it is to be understood that the invention is in no Way limited to these particular constructions and procedures, but, on the contrary, numerous other changes and modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and all such are to be included within the scope of this application.

What I claim is:

l. The method of surface decoration which comprises depositing different liquid colors upon adjacent areas of a sheet material so as to be capable of flowing thereon, moving a block having spaced projections into contact with said colors, moving said projections laterally while thus in contact with the colors so as to draw one color across its border and irregularly into another, and removing said projections from the color.

2. 'I'he method of blending the outlines of a pattern printed with liquid colors capable of flowing upon the surface to which they are applied, which comprises pressing a mash block against the surface of the wet colors forming the pattern, and, while the block is thus in contact with the color, shifting it laterally a limited distance suicient only to draw at least one color across its border, thereby to blend and soften the ne outlines of the pattern Without destroying it or rendering it unrecognizable as such.

3. The method of printing patterns having soft blended outlines which comprises printing different colors from cut-out blocks onto adjacent pattern areas, moving a mash block into contact with the wet colors thus applied, and shifting said block laterally for a limited distance suflicient only to blend and soften fine outline o1', without destroying, the pattern.

4. 'I'he method of surface decoration which 75 comprises depositing different liquid colors upon adjacent areas so asV to be capable of flowing thereon, and effecting mechanically a short lateral flow of one color across its border and irregularly into another color, the direction and extent of said mechanical forcing being substantially uniform over the entire area in which it is eiected.

5. The method of surface decoration which `l() comprises depositing different liquid colors upon adjacent areas so as to be capable of flowing thereon, moving a block having spaced projections into contact with said colors, moving said projections laterally a distance not greater than three times the Width of said color-applying projections while thus in contact with the colors so as to draw one color across its border and irregularly into another, and then removing said projections from the colors.

ALBERT WAGNER. 

